Review Blog

Mar 06 2013

The black rabbit by Philippa Leathers

Walker Books, 2013. ISBN 978 1 4063 4368 7.
(Age: 4+) Warmly recommended. Picture book. Rabbits. Bravery. The
little rabbit finds that there is a larger black rabbit following
him about. Wherever he goes, the black rabbit is there. If her runs
fast, it follows him: if her stands behind a tree, the black rabbit
is there when he comes away. He calls out to it to go away, but it
stays. He swims across the pond, but it is there when he gets out.
Exasperated, he walks into the deep dark wood. Two large eyes stare
at him from the gloom and he thinks the black rabbit has found him,
but on running out of the wood, he finds the eyes belong to a wolf.
Luckily the black rabbit is there again and scares off the wolf, so
bringing the rabbit and his shadow together.
A neat solution is found to the rabbit's fears, and this would make
an ideal lead in story to talk about fears and responses to fears,
about bravery and taking care. In pre school environments this book
could be well used with puppets and in particular shadow puppets,
lending an edge to the telling of the tale.
Fran Knight